


The Dead Warlocks Society

by MatureMead



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Gen, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hogwarts needs more literature dammit, Literary References & Allusions, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Multi, POV James Potter, POV Lily Evans Potter, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Remus Lupin is So Done, Remus is a good teacher
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatureMead/pseuds/MatureMead
Summary: It’s sixth year at Hogwarts, the Dark Lord is growing more powerful and the Marauders are still dealing with the fall out of that scene by the Lake. What better time for Remus to set up a secret literary club to teach his friends about the magic of books? With each book that is read, our favourite characters will discover that truth is stranger than fiction. Or how Lily became friends with the Marauders.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	1. The Ides of Moony: September 1976

**Author's Note:**

> English literature is one of my great loves so I decided to introduce our Marauders to some true classic works. Canon-compliant, with a bit of wolfstar-esque tension (but nothing sexual unless I change my mind) and Jily. Only well-known, obvious book/play choices because being pretentious isn’t as much fun. Expect plenty of puns, references, quotes and parallels between other fictional characters plus throwbacks to my fave HP moments. Each chapter is a POV from whoever gets the title pun. (Except Wormtail because I wanted to focus on the good guys, sorry Peter). Enjoy, all comments and feedback appreciated!

‘Friends, Marauders, Hogwartians, lend me your ears. We are gathered here today to celebrate the first ever meeting of the Dead Warlocks Society. Attendance is compulsory for all those purebloods who wouldn’t understand my witty Shakespeare references if I personally beat them to death with a copy of Julius Caesar. Our mission? To educate you in the magic of muggle literature.’

Sirius rolled his eyes and yawned pointedly. Remus glared at him.

‘Out of the goodness of my heart, I am going to force you to read some real books, and no James, ‘Quidditch Through the Ages’ is not a real book. We will scale the heights of literary genius, we will travel through strange and mysterious lands, we will peruse the darkest secrets of the heart…’

Lily coughed loudly.

‘Yes, sorry. Back to the point,’ he said hurriedly. ‘The point is, I refuse to let you leave this school having never even heard of Hamlet. So, you will turn up every month, whether you like it or not, or face my deepest disappointment.’

James and Sirius smirked at each other.

‘And because I’ll put a hex on you both if you don’t’.

The smirks slid from their faces like bubotuber pus.

‘Moony, you wouldn’t!’ James said in mock indignation, placing a hand over his heart.

‘I would.’ Remus responded threateningly, ‘it’s our sixth year in this cultural wasteland, and I’ve put up with you lot mocking my books long enough’.

‘Alright, keep your hair on, _Professor Lupin_ ’, Sirius snickered. 

He leaned back on his chair, running a hand nonchalantly through his long dark hair, and whispered something to James, who laughed. Fine. Time to bring out the big guns. He looked meaningfully at Lily, who stood up and walked to his side, arms folded, green eyes narrowed. James gulped, and hastily rearranged his face into what he clearly thought was a studious, intelligent look. Remus chuckled quietly to himself. James was so easy to manipulate when Lily was involved. In truth, he was pleasantly surprised she had agreed to come at all, after the fiasco last term. He hoped that she would be a good influence on his wayward friends, and they could prove to her in turn that they weren’t _complete_ idiots.

Lily cleared her throat and tossed her long red hair over her shoulders.

‘I’ll be helping Remus keep you lot in line and providing appropriate book recommendations. Someone had to take pity on you poor uncultured philistines.’

‘Evans, we all know you’re just here because you can’t resist spending time with Potter’, Sirius said slyly, looking over at James, who refused to meet his eyes.

Lily glared at him, hands on her hips.

‘Actually, Black, I’m here because Remus asked me to be here, given I’m the only person he can have a semi-intelligent discussion with,’ she retorted.

Remus smiled. He knew it had been worth convincing her to come, even if it had involved giving up his favourite bar of muggle chocolate as a bribe.Peter, who had remained silent during this exchange, piped up suddenly.

‘When are we supposed to be meeting? It won’t take up too much time will it? What if the teachers find out about it? Or the Slytherins?’ His round face was anxious.

‘Who cares about the Slytherins!’ snapped Sirius.

James shot him a warning look, but Lily held up a hand, and turned to Peter.

‘McGonagall would be so shocked to see Potter and Black reading an extra-curricular book voluntarily that she’d probably faint. And as for certain Slytherins…well, they may think anything muggle isn’t worth bothering with, but that’s their loss, isn’t it?’

She looked at them all, defying them to disagree. No one did. On the contrary, Sirius’s face relaxed, and he grinned broadly up at her.

‘Hear, hear, Evans’.

Her expression softened and she returned his smile. Remus turned back to them and felt a warmth in his chest at the sight of his best friends gathered around him in the drafty landing at the top of the hidden staircase on the fourth floor, concealed from prying eyes by a large tapestry of a chimera. It was 10pm on a rainy Friday evening in late September, 3 weeks after Remus had suggested they set up a book club. It had taken 3 weeks to persuade, threaten and cajole his friends into agreement. James had insisted they snuck out after dark for Remus’s proposed meeting, _‘what’s the point of sneaking around if we aren’t breaking any rules?!’_ , and he had to admit there was a certain thrill in this illicit meeting. He had even brought candles just for the atmosphere. Clearing his throat, he resumed his speech.

‘I propose we meet once a month in this hidden staircase, where we will solemnly discuss the book allocated in the previous meeting. Serious discussion will be followed by copious amounts of firewhisky. These meetings are to be kept secret, on pain of hex. All those who agree with the proposed terms, raise your hand.’

Peter raised his hand obediently, as did Lily. James stood up, and gave Remus a deep bow, flourishing his hand extravagantly. Sirius looked directly at Lily, lifted his hand and saluted her.

‘Are you planning on being this pretentious every meeting, Moony?’ James asked innocently.

‘I think he’s spent too much time hanging around prefects’ said Sirius, with a look at Lily, who glowered at him.

Ignoring this, Remus pulled out a book from the pockets of his faded, patched robes. His eyes were alight with the anticipation of knowledge, and the others fell silent, watching their friend’s pale face glow with enthusiasm. James had leaned forwards to listen, adjusting his glasses and looking intently at him.

Remus smiled. He’d been waiting for this opportunity for years. How many summers had he spent buried in muggle books, with no one to talk about them with? Becoming friends with Lily had felt like a haven in Hogwarts; a place to discuss the muggle culture that his friends had never understood. Now, he wanted to share this special kind of magic with them too.

‘I thought I’d start off with a true British Muggle icon. A man that it is frankly disgraceful that you lot have never heard of, given how much we like to sneak around and _solve mysteries._ ’

He caught Lily’s eye, and they shared a knowing, amused look. Sirius, James and Peter looked slightly apprehensive, outside of the joke for once. 

‘Please let me introduce you all to the original, and best detective of muggle fiction, Sherlock Holmes.’

He grinned at the perplexed looks on the faces of his best friends and handed them each a copy of a little book, with the words ‘A Study in Scarlet’ written in faded letters across the top.

‘Credit must go to Lily, who stole a copy from her local muggle library, and performed the complex gemino spell to produce the copies you have before you’.

James gave her a look of deepest admiration, which she ignored. 

‘We’ll make a Marauder of you yet, Evans’, called Sirius.

‘Now’, said Remus, addressing his friends intones of deepest sarcasm, ‘do you think you can make time in your busy social lives to fit in the difficult and task of _actually reading a real book_ , or is that beyond your limited powers?’

Lily chuckled, Sirius threw a quill at him and Peter nodded hastily, looking eager to please. James however raised his hand with a mock-pious expression on his face.

‘I’ve just got one question, _Professor Lupin_. Will you allow us to wear the appropriate costumes for these meetings?’

‘I’ll give out detention to anyone who doesn’t.’

And with that, the first meeting of the Dead Warlocks Society was dismissed.

  



	2. Elementary, my dear Prongs: October, 1976

‘Welcome to the second meeting of the Dead Warlocks Society’, Remus said. ‘Tonight, we discuss mystery, murder and the human instinct for revenge, delving ever deeper into the depths of human existence, journeying through the unknown realms of…’

‘Get on with it Moony, or there might just be another murder to solve,’ interrupted Sirius threateningly, chucking a chocolate frog at Remus, who deflected it with a lazy flick of his wand. 

James looked around at his friends and had to struggle to compose his face, yet again. The meeting had started later than intended, because they had all burst into raucous laughter at the sight of each other gathered together in full muggle Victorian regalia. It had taken several minutes for order to be restored.

It was a little-known secret kept among the Marauders that James _loved_ costumes. Growing up a spoilt only child without any siblings to entertain him, he had amused himself by borrowing his parent’s robes, transforming his clothes clumsily to resemble outfits he’d seen in pictures and begging for the latest ‘Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle’ outfit from Gambol and Japes for Christmas. Of course, he was nearly 17 now, far too old to be playing dress up. And yet here he stood, dressed in a deer-stalker hat, a vintage three-piece suit, with a pipe sticking out of his mouth and a magnifying glass in his hands.

James hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to indulge himself and prove that he really did respect muggle culture. It had nothing to do with Evans, he certainly hadn’t spent 3 hours in the library researching muggle depictions of the famous detective to impress _Evans._ No, it had been to entertain his friends, and because he looked bloody good in a suit. Not as good as Sirius, irritatingly. Sirius wore his ruffled shirt, navy waistcoat and pocket watch with that maddeningly casual air of elegance that his Black breeding had given him. Peter was in a top hat and long velvet overcoat that, in James’ opinion, made him look like an usher at a poorly attended funeral, whilst Remus wore a patched brown suit and bowler hat, with a battered old cane that he’d borrowed from his dad.

Despite his ridiculous outfit, James had thought he had seen Evan’s eyes flickering towards him several times, with something more than amusement in their depths. He pushed the thought away quickly. True, she had been civil with him over the last few weeks, more civil than he had deserved, after his behaviour last term. James felt a stab of shame whenever he thought back to that scene by the lake. Out of contrition, he had stopped shamelessly flirting with her and was treating her with polite, if wary, respect. She had been suspicious at first, but he hoped she was finally starting to lower her guard around him. Of course, he had noticed when she entered the staircase that the dark blue of her low cut, corseted dress brought out the green of her eyes, and the lustre of her red hair. He was only human, after all. Quite natural that he should feel a heat in his cheeks and a quickening of his pulse. Nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. Moony was speaking again, and James quickly repressed any further thoughts of Evans and turned back to his friends to join in

‘So, everyone’s read it? Good. What did you think? Prongs, as penance for wearing a hat so ludicrous that I nearly cracked a rib, you can go first’, Remus said, the corners of his mouth twitching.

‘Sherlock Holmes is a bloody genius, isn’t he?’ James responded enthusiastically, waving his magnifying glass around. ‘He’s amazing, no magic but he just _knows_ all the answers. The way he just put together all those tiny little clues, honestly, imagine if the Ministry of Magic had anyone half as good as him in the Auror office! All those Death-Eaters would be rounded up in no time!’

James had initially thought the whole thing was a bit of a laugh; an opportunity for Moony to lord it over them that he was much more cultured than they were, and a chance to prove to Evans that he could have mature conversations too. He’d picked up his copy of the battered old book with impatience as he sat in the common room after Quidditch practice, keen to get it out the way but had soon found himself enthralled. Sirius had caught him reading under the covers at 1am and had threatened to jinx his nose to the book if he didn’t turn off his wand light. James rolled his eyes at the memory; Sirius was always so dramatic. James had never heard of a group called the Mormons, not to mention the countless muggle police forces mentioned or the endless muggle inventions. He had realised, as he lay under the covers, mind racing through the streets of muggle London, how little he really knew about their world.

Remus smiled at him.

‘Holmes’s great power is his ability to see beyond the surface, spotting tiny details that other people overlook. You don’t need magic for that.’

‘But you do need more than one braincell, so that rules you out Prongs’, smirked Sirius.

James scowled at him, the menacing effect somewhat ruined by the stupid hat he was wearing.

‘Rules you out too, Black; I think _your_ last braincell died when you got hit by that bludger last week’, retorted Lily, her arms tightly crossed.

James choked slightly on the pipe he was chewing, and pulled it out, coughing and trying not to laugh. She glared at him and he immediately hitched an unconvincing look of solemnity onto his face.

‘You wound me deeply, Evans’, Sirius said sarcastically, leaning back and running a hand through his hair.

He tried to catch James’s eye, but he looked firmly away. He’d done enough damage with Evans already, there was no need to open hostilities this early on in proceedings.

‘Moving on from Padfoot and Prong’s lack of braincells, information that isn’t new to anyone who has spent more than a few minutes in their company, I suggest we return to the topic of Sherlock Holmes’, said Remus, dodging yet another chocolate frog courtesy of Padfoot.

Lily rolled her eyes. James smiled to himself. Really, Sirius was no match for her.

They spent the next half an hour happily arguing about the book; ranging from whether Holmes was a louder roommate than Remus, ‘I know I snore, but at least I don’t play the bloody violin at all hours of the day’ (Remus), to whether Watson was secretly in love with Holmes, ‘he keeps using the word _ejaculate_ and fawns all over him, isn’t it obvious?’ (Sirius). No one except Lily and Remus had ever heard of Mormons or the pioneers, ‘is that an illness?’ (Peter), so Lily took it upon herself to give an idiot’s guide to Muggle American history while they all tried their best to keep up. James didn’t have to feign interest; he really did want to know more. He felt as though he was missing out on a secret world, a world that so many wizards seemed to hate without trying to understand. Soon, Sirius passed round an illicit bottle of firewhisky from under his waistcoat and the conversation became more raucous.

‘I want to be a detective,’ James said an hour later, his words slurred.

They were all slightly worse for wear; Peter was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed, whilst Sirius was engaged in an enthusiastic argument with Remus about whether taking opiates for _academic purposes_ was justifiable, involving much gesticulating and swearing. James ignored their discussion, knowing better than to get involved in a Moony vs Padfoot battle of wits, particularly after a few drinks. Personally, his money was on Moony.

‘No such thing as wizard detectives,’ Lily said vaguely, ‘you’ll have to be an Auror.’

She was a little flushed from the alcohol, having agreed to overlook her prefect status ‘just this once’. James considered this. True, his father had extensive Ministry contacts, and James rather fancied himself a catcher of Dark wizards, particularly now the Death Eaters had started to move into the open. But the idea of taking orders from stuffy Ministry bureaucrats was pretty unappealing, after his long career as mischief-maker in chief. Besides, he had read the Prophet every day this term and over the summer, and it was clear that the Ministry were out of their depth as muggle and muggle-born attacks continued to multiply across the country.

He sat up suddenly, all drowsiness gone, and looked directly into her emerald green eyes.

‘I don’t want to work for the Ministry. I don’t trust them. Look at what’s happening right now, they don’t have a clue what to do and innocent people are dying. In the book, Holmes solved the case on his own, in his own way, because he wanted to. Not because some government git told him to. I want to fight my own battles.’

‘So, you think you’re going to fight against the Death Eaters when you leave school then?’ she asked, looking sceptical.

‘Of course I am,’ he said, rather more forcefully than he had intended.

The warmth of the firewhiskey had burned something like courage into his chest, and his path suddenly seemed to stretch out before him at last. He felt that he had always known deep down that this was his destiny; he was going to join the war against Voldemort, and they were going to win. _Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart._

Lily looked at him, and for a brief moment, he thought that an understanding passed between them. Then she got up, walked over to Remus and prodded him sharply.

‘Remus? We should get back to the common room, we’ve got patrols tomorrow and I really need some sleep.’

Remus blinked, paused mid-sentence and ran a hand over his scarred face.

‘Sorry Padfoot, I’ll have to finish educating you tomorrow. Next time, we discuss Hamlet, a play written by a _very_ famous muggle called Shakespeare, featuring ghosts, murder and some serious parenting issues. Enjoy.’

And with the passing out of the new play to each member, the second meeting of the Dead Warlock’s Society was concluded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know the title is not technically said by Holmes, but I'm only human and can't resist a good fun cliche  
> The image of James in a classic Holmes cosplay really tickled me  
> Would love to read a Marauders/Conan Doyle Holmes AU  
> Goes without saying that Remus is anti-recreational drugs, Sirius is pro
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, all feedback welcome!


	3. Frailty, thy name is Padfoot: November 1976

‘To be or not to be, that is the question…’

‘For fucks sake, don’t start again,’ Sirius groaned.

This was the third time James had attempted to perform this particular monologue, having been interrupted first by a book to the head, courtesy of himself, and secondly by Remus using _wadiwassi_ to send the lace handkerchief sticking out of James’ pocket straight up his nose. He made a mental note to ask Moony to show him how to do it.

‘We get it, you think you’re exceptionally clever for understanding the most famous and over-rated bits of muggle writing ever,’ Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

Honestly. A few evenings with Hamlet and James thought he was bloody Shakespeare himself. It was another dark, rain-sodden evening, and the members of the Dead Warlocks Society were clustered around a jar of brightly burning blue flames in the gloomy landing of the hidden staircase.

If possible, Sirius thought, James looked even more ridiculous than last time, dressed in a huge red doublet and stiff lace ruff. Like Nearly Headless Nick, if he had forgotten to brush his hair before they lopped his head off. Or rather, _tried_ to lop his head off. Prongs just couldn’t resist showing off in front of Evans, who had burst out laughing at the sight of him. No such indignities for Sirius. Instead, he had transformed himself to look like the Bard himself, putting a gold hoop in his ear and wearing a black velvet doublet with a high white collar. In a former life, where he still belonged to the Black family, Mother would have killed him for _befouling himself with filthy muggle trinkets_. He scowled. Maybe he would get a tattoo as well, just to spite her hideous memory.

‘Enough of your pitiful attempts at acting Prongs, it’s time to have a proper discussion about the brilliance of Hamlet,’ said Remus seriously. He had transformed himself to resemble the ghost in the play and the scars on his pale face gleamed in the candlelight.

‘It was so _long_!’ complained Peter, predictably. ‘Couldn’t you pick a play that doesn’t take a hundred years to read? And I could barely understand half of it, why doesn’t he ever just write what he means!’.

He had come as a court jester. Obviously. Sirius bit back his impatience. Of course Wormtail had struggled; he could barely read 2 chapters of a basic Charms book before getting bored and asking Remus for help. In the end, Evans had taken pity on him and explained the plot so he wouldn’t feel left out. Sirius snorted. He’d had no trouble with Shakespeare’s prose; he was a Black, and fluent in pretentious old-fashioned language. At least there were no offensive slurs in Hamlet, which made a change from his childhood lessons in pureblood literature. If only Mother dearest could see him now, dressed like a muggle, reading muggle books, in the company of a blood traitor, a werewolf and a muggle-born. Maybe he’d let Reg overhear him talking about it. Maybe the news would give her that heart attack he’d been longing for since the age of 7. _Stop thinking about her._ He hoped they started drinking soon.

‘Muggles don’t believe in ghosts, do they? Do you reckon most people watching the play just thought Hamlet had gone batshit crazy?’ asked James.

‘Actually, muggles in Shakespeare’s time did believe in magic,’ corrected Lily. ‘If you’d been paying attention in History of Magic, you’d remember that lots of muggles were falsely accused of being witches. Besides, Shakespeare wrote another play called Macbeth about 3 witches, because the king at the time was obsessed with them.’

Remus nodded his agreement. ‘Modern day muggles usually think the ghost is just Hamlet’s guilty conscience, urging him to take revenge, but I think that Shakespeare wanted us to believe that the ghost is real and dangerous.’

‘Dangerous? How can a ghost be dangerous?’ said Sirius scornfully. ‘All they do is clank around and moan about how very _hard_ their lives whilst trying to bore you to death.’

Sirius had little time for ghosts; the idea of any of his relatives haunting the earth after their deaths was enough to make him swear he’d never become one. Ghosts were cowards; when Sirius died, he wanted to find out what happened next. As far as he was concerned, death was just another adventure.

‘Besides,’ Remus continued, ignoring his interruption, ‘the danger isn’t from the ghost itself, but the responsibility it brings him. And I think we can both agree, Padfoot, that the idea of any adult responsibility is truly terrifying.’

‘You’ve got a point, Moony.’

‘Well, if Hamlet’s anything to go by, having a ghost come to visit just means you take _forever_ to actually bloody do anything’, said James. ‘Why doesn’t he just stick the sword in Claudius and get on with it, instead of whining about it for half the play?’

Surprisingly, it was Peter who answered.

‘Because he’s afraid! He’s afraid of what will happen if he commits the murder himself. He should have just got someone else to do it for him!’

Sirius raised his eyebrows and felt a stab of annoyance.

‘So, you think that people should just get other people to do their dirty work for them? They should just hide behind others like cowards? Don’t be an idiot Wormtail.’

Peter flushed and looked away. Lily narrowed her eyes at him, but Sirius felt no guilt. Someone had to remind Peter he was supposed to be a Gryffindor, and a Marauder. Sometimes he wondered how Peter and he had ever become friends in the first place. The answer to that question tactfully changed the subject, clearly wishing to avoid an argument in his usual irritating way.

‘Waiting really backfired though, didn’t it?’ said James. ‘He just ends up killing a bunch of other people by accident!’

‘Like Ophelia,’ Lily said bitterly. ‘Hamlet said he loved her, but he ditched her and killed her dad without thinking, then acted sad when she ended up dead. He didn’t care about her or respect her feelings. His ‘love’ was selfish and obsessive. Big surprise there.’ Her tone was icy.

‘Not all of us are that bad!’ piped up James immediately. Sirius groaned. Prongs never knew when to keep his mouth shut.

‘Oh really?’ fired back Lily at once, her eyes narrowed. ‘You could have fooled me!’

Sirius knew she was thinking back to the incident by the Lake last year. True, Prongs (and himself if he was honest) had behaved like an idiot, but Evans had no idea just how much Snape deserved it. His insides clenched at the memory of Snape threatening to expose Remus’s secret. He still felt hot waves of anger rush over him every time he caught sight of the greasy hair and lanky form of Severus Snape, longing to curse him into oblivion. Yet when he thought about it, Evans hadn’t mentioned his name since he’d called her a ‘mudblood’ that day and Mary had let it slip that she was refusing to speak to him. Maybe she’d finally come to her senses, after he showed her so publicly exactly what a piece of shit he was.

Remus intervened swiftly, clearly sensing danger.

‘Before we judge Hamlet too harshly for his admittedly tedious delays, remember what he said; ‘conscience does make cowards of us all’. Our own thoughts are often our worst enemies, and secrets are a heavy burden to bear alone. No wonder he couldn’t decide what to do.’

Once again, Remus was displaying his knack for wisdom beyond his years. Sirius felt a surge of affection for the teenager who, alone of their friends, understood how it felt to carry the weight of secrecy.

‘That said, I think we can all agree that Ophelia gets a raw deal’, he continued. ‘I’d hope that if any of you decide to avenge a murder, you wouldn’t start by insulting your girlfriend’s honour and killing her father by accident.’

‘Unless you’re dating a Slytherin!’ called Peter, looking pleased when they all laughed, even Lily.

‘Moving on from the many failings of men, I think we should talk about the sins of parents. Let’s discuss Hamlet’s mother,’ finished Remus.

He caught Sirius’s eye, and Sirius looked back defiantly. He wondered whether Remus had known that Sirius would sympathise with Hamlet’s fury with at his mother. Probably. Moony had an unnerving ability to see past the front he put on for everyone else. Sirius had not told his friends why he had left home that summer. He had simply shown up on James’s doorstep, bruised, bloody and desperate. James had taken him in without question, as he had known he would, and Sirius had refused to speak about it again with any of his friends. Bad enough that he still woke up in the middle of the night with the taste of blood in his mouth, tears in his eyes and his mother’s words ringing in his ears. _You are nothing, a stain on the House of Black! I wish you’d never been born!_

‘She was a bitch and she deserved what she got,’ he replied coldly and dropping his gaze at last, he reached for the bottle of firewhisky.

Taking a long swig, Sirius sat back and let the voices of his friends wash over him as they argued about Horatio, the play within the play and countless other pointless things. _Words, words, words._ His thoughts were back in that musty old house; he felt as though the dust still clung to him all those months later. His hands would never be free of the stain of Black blood, the shame of Black blood. They would never stop haunting him. The minutes passed as Sirius sat in silence, watching Lily and James arguing about Ophelia and Peter trying to join in. He didn’t realise that Remus had moved and sat next to him until he felt a thin hand poke him in the ribs.

‘Move up Padfoot, I thought I’d give the happy couple some space.’

Sirius grunted and obliged.

‘Cigarette?’

‘Where the hell did you get these, Moony?’

‘Lily. Connections to the muggle world have their uses.’

Sirius took one, lit both his and Remus’s with his wand-tip and inhaled deeply. The smoke was calming; it dispelled some of the tightness in his chest.

‘Who knew Evans had a secret supply line,’ Sirius said, impressed despite himself.

‘There’s a lot you don’t know about Lily,’ Remus said mildly. He was peering into Sirius’s face with a shrewd expression behind the ghostly sheen.

‘I don’t want to talk about what happened this summer,’ Sirius said flatly.

‘I wasn’t going to ask.’

They sat quietly together, blowing smoke rings across the room until finally, Sirius looked at his friend properly. Remus’s eyes were filled with compassion, and concern.

He sighed, softening at the sight of him.

‘I’m sorry. I just hate talking about my _fucking_ family. They’re not my real family, they never loved me, they never gave a shit about me.’

He felt as though the smoke had something released something inside him, allowing him to blow out the poisonous thoughts within him with each puff of smoke, for the first time since he’d left home.

‘I hate them. I hate everything they stand for, and I never want to see any of them again. Over the summer, I thought a lot about what happened last term. What I did to you.’

He swallowed, the memory of Remus’s face that terrible morning still raw.

‘I’m sorry Remus. I’m so sorry.’

It was not Sirius’s first apology for the prank that had nearly destroyed their friendship, but he needed to say it again, to make Remus understand how much he cared about him and how much he meant it.

‘I’d die for you Moony. I’d die for any of you. Even Peter. You lot are my real family.’

‘I know, Sirius. We all know,’ Remus replied gently.

Sirius quickly changed the topic back to Hamlet, unwilling to say more. Remus did not press him any further but stretched out a hand and placed it on Sirius’s shoulder, a silent promise of solidarity, friendship and forgiveness. 

At midnight, Lily disentangled herself from her long Elizabethan gown, with its flowing skirts and trailing sleeves, and stood up. Sirius looked at James; his face was reverential as he watched her.

‘Right, I think it’s time to read a book about women who _don’t_ end up dead because of the stupidity of men. It might be a shock to the system, but I think you lot need a healthy dose of fictional medicine to get rid of all that testosterone.’

She looked meaningfully at James and Sirius, who smirked at each other. She was alright really, Evans, and a lot more fun than he had given her credit for, apparently.

‘So, the next book is Pride and Prejudice, a true muggle classic by a female author for once. Get your costumes ready boys, it’s time to take a trip to Regency muggle society.’

She handed out copies of the book to each of them, and with that, the third meeting of the Dead Warlocks Society drew to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felt it was important to include a reference to Harry’s conversation with Nearly Headless Nick about Sirius not wanting to be a ghost  
> Sirius has a lot in common with Hamlet, poor boy  
> ‘Words, words, words’ is said by Hamlet in Act 2, Scene 2 whilst he is pretending to be mad.  
> There is SO MUCH in Hamlet I could have included, but Peter isn't wrong, it is long  
> Also the selfish love comment is aimed by me at Snape. Sorry not sorry. Lily deserved better.


	4. Pride and Evans: December, 1976

_Shit._ There he was, waiting for her, half-concealed behind a statue of Morgana. She clenched her fists. Why did he insist on following her, on trying to speak to her whenever she was alone? Didn’t he realise that he was the _last_ person in this whole damn school she wanted to talk to? It didn’t help that she was in her costume for the meeting, a long white empire-waisted dress with matching gloves and fake pearls in her hair. When Lily had put on her outfit in the empty girl’s bathroom, she had looked admiringly at herself in the mirror. The soft white linen contrasted pleasing with the rich red of her long hair, and she had felt a little thrill of pleasure and pride. Now, standing before Severus Snape, she just felt ridiculous.

‘Lily, please!’

‘Get the _hell_ out of my way Severus, before I make you.’

‘Where are you going, dressed like that?’

‘None of your damn business.’

‘Are you meeting Potter and his friends?’

‘It’s _none_ of your business where I go, or who I meet! Now get out of my fucking way!’

Lily pushed past him, feeling his eyes on her back as she hurried off to the meeting. She was going to be late.

…

‘Sorry, sorry, sorry!’ Lily panted, as she ran up the stairs, cheeks a little flushed.

‘We wouldn’t dream of starting without you’, said Remus, smiling at her. ‘Besides, you look the very picture of our heroine after a bracing walk in the countryside. Apart from the hair’.

‘I won’t take hair advice from someone with sideburns’, she retorted, grinning at his rather unsuccessful attempt to emulate Regency fashions.

As she sat down next to Potter, who was mercifully sideburn free, she couldn’t help but notice that he looked rather dashing in his breeches and tailcoat. This confused her. Of course, it wasn’t that she had ever thought he was _unattractive,_ but lately she had found her eyes straying towards him without her permission when they were in the same room. It was probably just the effect of the costume. Everyone looked better in period costume. Just look at Black, he looked exceptionally handsome in his leather boots and dark coat, his long hair artfully tousled. That must be it. It wasn’t specific to Potter. Surely.

‘Welcome to the Dead Warlocks Society, ladies and gentlemen’, said Remus. ‘Tonight, we start our discussion with the charming Miss Elizabeth Bennett, who so reminds of our friend Lily Evans.’

‘Always quick with a put down’, said Black.

‘Always ready to stick up for her friends’, said Peter.

‘Always ready to defend her honour’, said Remus.

‘And definitely possessed with ‘fine eyes’, said Potter, grinning at her.

She rolled those fine eyes at him and pretended that she wasn’t flattered. She noticed Remus had said ‘our’ friend, not ‘my’ friend. She supposed she was friends with all of them now, though she wasn’t quite sure how it had happened.

‘I take it you enjoyed the book?’ she asked, and she was gratified by their enthusiasm.

Lily had doubted whether the Marauders would be interested in Austen’s acid wit, focused as it was on marriage and families, but it seemed she had been wrong.

‘It wasn’t my usual fare’, said Black loftily, ‘but I always enjoy reading about other families’ problems. It makes a nice change.’

For some reason he looked at Potter significantly, who grimaced back at him.

‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’, quoted Remus sagely.

‘Wrong book Remus, let’s not confuse these poor boys’, smiled Lily.

‘Of course, Prongs here couldn’t get enough of _Lizzie_ ’, Sirius continued, ignoring Remus and smirking at Lily, who flushed again.

‘She’s smart and she doesn’t let anyone look down on her or treat her badly. She knows her own worth. What’s not to like?’ Potter said seriously.

Lily had to hide her surprise. Not only had he read the book, but he appeared to understand why she was so fond of it.

‘Prongs is in love’, Peter teased, ‘and this one is even more unlikely to go out with him.’ 

Lily scowled at him.

‘Well, Wormtail, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’, intoned Remus seriously, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

‘Does that make James the Darcy to our Lizzie then?’ asked Peter, rather slyly.

Before Lily could answer back, Black came to her rescue. Miracles never ceased.

‘I think you’ll find there’s only one tall, handsome bloke here with an attitude problem and a horrible rich family’, said Black, and they all laughed.

‘If anything, Prongs, you’re Bingley, that lovesick idiot who’s always going after the older sister.’

‘And Moony is the father’, piped up Peter, ‘because he just likes to use sarcasm to mess with us.’

Remus doffed his top hat in acknowledgement.

‘We all know who you are, Peter’, Potter said, with a rather wicked glint in his eye, ‘you’re Mr Collins.’

They all roared with laughter, even Peter, once he’d chucked his copy of the book at Potter’s head. Lily smiled to herself. A year ago, it would have been impossible to think of herself sharing jokes with the Marauders and introducing them to her favourite books. She actually looked forwards to these meetings, and found herself striking up conversation with Black, Potter and Peter outside of classes in recent weeks. She’d always liked Remus, and questioned his taste in friends, but she thought finally she understood why he was so loyal to them. Sitting here together, it felt like she had finally gained entry to a secret society, that the Dead Warlocks Society was more than just a name. It was a sense of belonging, in a school where she had felt like an outsider since her arrival.

‘I’ve got a question’, said Peter, as he ate a chocolate frog tossed to him by Remus. ‘Why does Lizzie fall in love with Darcy after all that drama? She seemed to really hate him.’

‘Nah, she didn’t’, said Black casually. ‘Weren’t you paying attention, Wormtail? She couldn’t wait to get her hands on that big mansion.’

Trust Black to have a flippant response for everything. Lily was about to retort, but to her surprise and slight irritation, Remus got there first.

‘Actually, Lizzie realised that her dislike of Darcy was due to her own prejudice about his character, based on an interaction where he wounded her pride and humiliated her. She formed an immediate judgement about him and interpreted all his subsequent actions through the lens of this prejudice. It wasn’t until she realised that she was mistaken about Wickham’s true character that she started to give him a chance to show her he wasn’t the man she had thought he was. He was kinder, generous and loyal to a fault.’

‘Blimey, Moony’, said James looking slightly stunned. ‘Have you been taking secret book lessons? We’ll make a professor out of you yet.’

Remus beamed at him.

Lily could have sworn Remus had looked straight at her as he gave his little speech. _Damn him._ Suddenly, she regretted her choice of book. It felt hot in the room, her dress tight and uncomfortable. She wished she wasn’t sitting so close to Potter and tried to move a little further away. Was there a small chance that Remus was right, that she had made her judgement about Potter all those years ago and now refused to see that he had grown up a bit? That he had good qualities too? And hadn’t Severus betrayed her, humiliated her, _hurt_ her? Maybe he’d done the same to Potter and his friends and she just never realised.

That didn’t excuse Potter’s behaviour, but it might help explain why he had treated Severus so badly. Lily had noticed that Potter had stopped picking fights with Severus since that awful scene; perhaps he really did feel some sort of remorse for his actions. Suddenly, she remembered Severus’s hints about Remus’s condition; could it be that Potter was trying to protect his friend? That thought made her even more uncomfortable, and she pushed it away, storing it to the dark place in the back of her mind, where other such unwelcome thoughts about Potter lived. Like how her stomach had flipped when he smiled at her in Charms the other day. Pulling herself together, Lily decided it was time to defend both her honour, and Elizabeth Bennett. They’d all done quite enough talking about her favourite book for a bunch of boys who had never even heard of Austen before she came along.

‘I think you’ll find that Lizzie was quite justified in her dislike of Darcy’, she said defiantly. ‘He was proud, rude and snobbish. He humiliated her in public and didn’t apologise for it. He insulted her family and friends, and acted as though his proposal was some kind of gift she should be grateful for. She only loved him once he grew up a bit and deflated his ego.’

She glared at them all, daring them to disagree.

‘I concede your point.’ said Remus graciously. ‘The course of true love never did run smoothly, but even less so when both parties are stubborn and proud’, he concluded, looking at both her and Potter significantly.

Potter was looking slightly shamefaced again. _Good_ , she thought savagely. _Let him feel guilty._

Peter was looking eagerly between her, Potter and Remus, like it was some ridiculous tennis match, whilst Black merely seemed faintly amused.

‘Time for a drink’, Black said, signalling the end of the debate. Once again, Lily found herself grateful for his intervention. As the others crowded around Potter, who was pouring honey-coloured liquor into glasses, Black came over to Lily and sat down next to her.

‘Cigarette by any chance?’

‘How do you know I have cigarettes?’

‘Moony let it slip.’

‘And I thought my secret was safe.’

‘No secrets amongst Marauders I’m afraid.’

She rolled her eyes but handed him one from her bag anyway. He lit it up, then turned to face her, looking uncharacteristically serious.

‘Just so you know, Prongs really helped me out this summer.’

She looked at him, eyebrows raised.

‘Really?’

‘I know he’s an idiot, but he’s a bloody good friend. I finally escaped from the clutches of my evil family, and I had nowhere to go, but he took me in like a brother. I’m living with the Potters now. Thought you ought to know.’

And patting her on the shoulder, he stood up to get a drink, leaving Lily in a worse state of confusion than before. Sirius (and this was the first time she had thought of him as _Sirius_ ) had been forced to leave home. He’d never spoken to her directly about his family. She knew they were Dark wizards, and she knew he hated them, hell, the whole bloody school knew _that_ , but leaving his family for good was a pretty drastic step. And Potter had taken him in? Sipping the mead Remus handed her, she slipped into thoughtful silence, thinking about the boy with the messy hair who sat laughing with Sirius, the candlelight making his eyes sparkle behind his glasses.

As the evening drew to a close, Remus announced that the next book to read would be ‘The Three Musketeers’, by Alexandre Dumas and handed out copies.

‘You’ll enjoy this,’ Lily said to the room at large, ‘it’s about a bunch of reckless idiots with swords.’

‘Brilliant!’ said Potter and Sirius together.

And with that, the fourth meeting of the Dead Warlocks Society came to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Each happy family’ quote comes from the opening lines of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, which Remus and Lily have definitely read, I wanted to get some Russian literature in but felt that Tolstoy is a bit beyond the other marauders…  
> ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged’ etc is the opening line from Pride and Prejudice and what a line it is  
> This is one of my all time favourite books, couldn't resist some delicious parallels between Lizzie and Lily


	5. All for Prongs: January 1977

‘To arms, fellow Musketeers, to arms!’

‘Please put the sword down, James, you’re going to take someone’s eye out,’ said Remus in exasperation.

‘Do you seek to challenge me, Moony?’ asked James, sweeping off his long-feathered hat with a flourish and pointing his sword at Remus, raising his eyebrows.

‘I knew this was a bad idea,’ he sighed, unable to suppress a small smile.

‘Who will join me!’ James called, looking at Sirius and Peter for back up.

‘Sorry mate, it’s a bit early in the evening for duelling,’ said Sirius, catching Moony’s baleful glare and sinking beneath his cloak.

‘I’ve only got a dagger but I’ll help!’ Peter said, looking eagerly at James for approval. His own hat kept slipping down over his eyes.

‘I’ll challenge you,’ replied Lily, and James felt a thrill shoot through him like fire.

She stood up and unsheathed her own sword, crossing blades with him. Whoever said women looked better in dresses had clearly never seen Lily Evans in leather boots, a white shirt, broad brimmed hat and a cape. _Damn, Evans._

‘Sit down, Lily,’ said Remus, shaking his head wearily and dislodging several feathers from his moth-eaten hat in the process.

‘We all know Prongs doesn’t need any excuse to embarrass himself in front of you,’ snorted Sirius.

‘Whatever,’ Lily huffed. ‘I’d win anyway.’

She was making it extremely difficult for James to keep the promise he’d made to himself. _Stop asking her out, stop acting like a prat around her._ He sighed, swept his hat back onto his head and sheathed his sword.

‘Happy, Moony?’

‘Ecstatic,’ replied Remus sarcastically. ‘Should I assume from your childish behaviour that you enjoyed the book?’

‘That book is one of the best things I’ve read,’ said James fervently, and Sirius nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

‘It’s got everything! Duelling, romance, humour, and the seventeeth century Marauders!’ he continued.

This was no exaggeration; from the moment d’Artagnan had swaggered onto the page, James had been hooked. He had never realised fiction could be this _fun._

‘Don’t you think comparing yourself to one of the most famous friendship groups ever written is just a tad arrogant, Potter?’ Lily said, rolling her eyes.

‘Arrogant? Our Prongs? Surely not,’ smirked Sirius, winking conspiratorially at her, and receiving a laugh in return.

James didn’t know where this new comradeship between Lily and Sirius had come from, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. On the one hand, her acceptance of his best friend could only boost his chances with her; on the other hand, it now meant two against one. The odds were not in his favour. He could not help feeling a twinge of jealousy at the sound of her laughter. Why couldn’t he make her laugh like that?

‘We’ve certainly never attempted anything quite as audacious as the dashing Musketeers, I must concede,’ smiled Remus, ‘though not from lack of trying.’

‘Right lads, next prank we steal a diamond,’ said Sirius, seriously. ‘We’ve been setting our sights much too low.’

‘Spoken like a true Marauder!’ declared James. ‘One day, we’ll be just as famous!’

‘You are so like d’Artagnan,’ Lily sighed.

This pulled James up short. It was true he felt a certain affinity with the fourth Musketeer, but he wasn’t sure if the comparison was a compliment.

‘How so?’ he demanded.

‘You love picking fights, your pride is easily wounded, and you’re always trying to prove yourself to everyone. Oh, and you’d do anything for your friends.’

‘Can’t argue with that’, grinned Sirius, clapping him on the shoulder.

James considered this description. True, she had drawn attention to the flaws he was trying his best to smooth over, but she had also given him the tiniest compliment. Progress was being made and he would not be deterred.

‘Well, Evans, d’Artagnan is the hero of the story, so I’m deeply flattered.’

‘I agree with Lily!’ piped up Peter. ‘You’re really brave, just like him!’

James ignored Sirius pretending to be sick behind him and smiled at Peter fondly. Good old Peter, always willing to stick up for him.

‘You can’t even pronounce the hero’s name properly,’ said Sirius disdainfully, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

‘Not all of us grew up with French family mottos over their dining table,’ Lily reminded him. ‘You’ll have to put that pureblood education to good use and enlighten us mere mortals.’

‘You’re all invited to French lessons in the secret passageway under the One-Eyed Witch’s hump’, replied Sirius without missing a beat, ‘I can teach you more about French than just language…’

‘Trust you to lower the tone,’ grumbled Peter.

‘Moving on from Sirius’s, ah, _generous_ offer and back to the book….d’Artagnan may be the hero, but personally, I think the charm of the story lies with its titular characters,’ said Remus thoughtfully, ‘who were so close that they were known as “the inseparables”. Each Musketeer has their own charms and flaws, but it is their unwavering loyalty to each other that draws them together, despite their differences.’

‘Here, here!’ called James, beaming at his friends and rising to his feet.

‘Look what you’ve done, Moony,’ groaned Sirius, ‘he’s going to make a bloody speech.’

James cleared his throat importantly. He was filled with that sense of purpose and righteousness that came to him before such moments. Now, as they sat gathered together in their swords and hats, looking perfectly absurd and delightfully unified, he felt compelled to speak and mark the occasion.

‘Marauders, much like our noble Musketeer friends, we too have created bonds of friendship for life, here in this very school. Bound together by loyalty and secrecy, we swore a sacred oath to each other many years ago. Now, I believe it is time to formally induct Evans into our midst. All those in favour, say aye!’

Lily looked both surprised and pleased, and James watched the colour rise in her cheeks with satisfaction.

‘Aye!’ they all cried as one.

‘Now,’ James continued, ‘to keep Moony happy, I propose we use the motto of the Musketeers to carry out the ritual.'

He bowed to Remus, who tipped his hat in approval.

‘Gentleman and ladies, please put your swords in the centre.’

They obliged as one.

‘Now say after me, “all for one, and one for all!”’

‘All for one, and one for all!’ they echoed, and Lily’s voice rang out clearly over the others. It made James’s heart leap with joy, even as they all collapsed into laughter.

‘I propose a toast’, said Sirius, ‘in honour of Lily, our newest recruit.’

He filled 5 glasses with firewhisky and they drank deeply, with cries of ‘Evans!’

This, surely, was proof that Lily no longer hated him. She had taken his oath, drank to it, and was smiling and laughing. He caught her eye, and she put her hand on his arm, and he felt goosebumps on the back of his neck.

‘Thanks for that, Potter,’ Lily said, looking at him intently out of those dazzling green eyes.

‘Call me James,’ he said, trying his luck in the wake of her touch.

‘Alright then, _James_ ,’ she said warmly, with a half laugh. ‘Now, how about that duel I was promised?’

James looked around the room. Remus was talking to Peter earnestly about Athos’s treatment of Milady; the coast was clear.

‘Alright then,’ he grinned, ‘you’re on. Padfoot is my second, who’s yours?’

‘Remus, of course,’ she replied at once.

“You know, fighting a lady goes against every chivalric code I hold dear’, James said in mock seriousness.

‘Well, that’s stupid of you’, Lily retorted, ‘because chivalry is dead and I’m going to win.’

And with that, she unsheathed her sword with one fluid motion, and had him pinned against the wall. Luckily, Remus had absolutely forbidden them to transfigure themselves _real_ swords, arguing that they could not be trusted with anything sharper than a quill. That now seemed sensible, given the circumstances he found himself in.

‘Finish him Evans!’ Sirius called, drink in hand and that irritating smug grin on his face.

‘Careful Lily!’ cried Wormtail, spilling firewhisky on his cape.

‘Honestly, I give up,’ sighed Remus, downing his drink in one.

Lily’s face was much too close to his; he could see the freckles on her nose and her dark, thick eyelashes. His breathing was fast and shallow.

‘Do you yield?’ she demanded.

‘You haven’t left me much choice, Evans’.

‘Say it out loud then. Admit I’m the better dueller.’

He groaned. She smiled wickedly and pressed the sword harder into his chest.

‘Fine! I yield, and you’re better at duelling! Happy?’

‘Thrilled.’

She smirked and stepped back, her hand aloft in triumph.

‘Now you really are one of us’, said Sirius.

‘Humiliating Prongs is a rite of passage’, agreed Remus.

‘So much for the Inseparables’, James huffed, but secretly, he was thrilled. He may have lost the duel, but the victory was James Potter’s, no matter what Lily said.

They passed around the bottle of firewhisky again and soon fell to discussing the book with enthusiasm. Even Wormtail had enjoyed Dumas’s tale, and whilst Lily disapproved of the misanthropy throughout the book, all agreed that Athos, Porthos and Aramis were worthy forefathers of mischief. Lily lamented the deaths of Constance Bonacieux and Milady de Winter as ‘ _yet another example of men ruining women’s lives’_ , Sirius and Peter argued about which Musketeer was best, ‘ _obviously Athos, even Dumas is obsessed with him!’_ , and Remus spoke earnestly about Treville, who he deemed _‘the most worthy character’_.

James was content, for once, to sit back and watch his friends, rather than trying to dominate the conversation. This was where he was happiest, gathered together with his best friends, allowing the follies of youth to drown out the war drum beyond the castle gates. At this moment, it was hard to believe that these care-free days would ever end.

After an hour, Lily stood up, slightly unsteadily, and tripped over her cape. Sirius sniggered.

‘As the victor, I claim the power to choose our next book.’

Remus nodded his permission.

‘We are going to read “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley. She wrote this when she was just 18 and invented an entire literary genre by herself. I’d like to see any of you lot do _that_!’

Smiling at them all, her eyes lingered a little longer than was strictly necessary on James. He felt his face burn under her gaze. Then she pulled out copies of the book from under her cape, and the spell was broken. The fifth meeting of the Dead Warlocks’ Society had ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> James is such a d'Artagnan, well meaning, makes bad choices, prone to life-ruining crushes. Quite like the idea of a musketeers AU I wont lie, more in the vein of the show than the book though.  
> Remus is sensible but he could 100% destroy James in a duel, guaranteed.  
> Brace for some angst next week..


End file.
